A cleft story of love and loss

This might not be something you need to read, but it's something I need to share. I've spoken very little about our miscarriage from this past January. In all honesty, it's because for a long while, I was just too happy to go back to a place of grief and lament. After being in the…

As we quickly approach Christmas I find myself thinking of three things, "Thank God he sent us a savior," "boy, do I miss Helen," and "Man, my heart breaks with all the other Loss Mama's this Christmas." Early in our grief, I was fortunate to find an online community, The Joyful Morning, for moms that…

It's been ten months since that terrible day that changed our lives forever. Ten months since the story of our lives took an unexpected turn. This month has been a difficult one, it's been a year since Helen's story really began. A year ago, we learned of her cleft lip and palate, along with her…

Last November, I started an adorable tradition with Anna Beth. I draw a very unimpressive turkey, ok, he looks more like a peanut, and pin him to our wall in the kitchen. Each morning after breakfast, we write down something she's thankful for, or for a toddler, whatever she thinks of at that moment. So…

“Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. "Corrie," he began gently, "when you and I go to Amsterdam-when do I give you your ticket?" I sniffed a few times, considering this. "Why, just before we get on the train." "Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need…

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare leaves us with the question, do names even matter? He urges us to think, that they don't, oh but my sweet innocent flowers, they matter more than we know. Why else would…

I cried out "Praise Jesus" as my daughter's still frame lay below me, voiceless. My tired body relaxed with a great force that only comes from immediate physical relief. It's as if my whole being, from head to toe to heart, exhaled. I lay there in the eerie silence praising God because I did…